The present invention relates to paper supply means and more particularly to a novel paper supply holder for use with a printer and having a dancer bar for assuring orderly feeding of the web from the supply reel, and which is especially advantageous for use with web feeding means of the incremental-feed type.
Printers of the high-speed type have a capability of printing under control of a computer or communications link receiver in which sheets of paper would have to be changed rather rapidly due to the printing speed capability of such printers. In order to limit the number of paper feed operations required to be performed per unit time, it is typical to adapt the printer to receive and feed paper from a continuous elongated web of indeterminate length. A web of this nature is typically provided in a large supply roll. The web is arranged to rotate upon a supporting shaft or pin to enable feeding of the paper web from the supply reel. The support for the supply roll is preferably of the free-wheeling type to enable the paper to be fed rapidly without being torn. However, a free-wheeling support of this type also carries with it the disadvantage of allowing the supply reel to continue rotation due to the large inertia of the supply reel and due to the force imparted to the supply reel through the pulling force exerted on the outermost layer of the paper web, thereby enabling the paper web to begin to unravel and feed more paper than is necessary during a paper feed operation. This is particularly disadvantageous when utilizing large paper web supply reels with printers of the incremental paper-feed type, which impart an abrupt pulling force upon the paper web.